Everyone knows the Brangelina gossip industry is a sham. So why do tabloids insist on running patently untrue Brangelina stories on their covers?

In 2007, Star magazine editor-in-chief Candace Trunzoexplained that waning brand loyalty means tabs can't afford to waste their covers on anything less than the juiciest dirt about the most famous people in the entire world: "Brand loyalty isn't what it used to be in terms of celebrity magazines. Each week, people decide on what they are or aren't going to buy based on the cover, and if you don't draw them in with it, you lose that undecided portion of your audience."

Jennifer Aniston's publicist told a reporter last year that weeklies "no longer have any interest in actual reporting," and explained why many A-list celebs don't cooperate with tabloids: "If you cooperate with one of the magazines, their competitors become vengeful and attack clients. There is no upside to working with them ... Their tactic is to make up stories that are so damaging, in the hope that we would engage in a dialogue that gives them access to the talent."

An anonymous celebrity weekly editor once said, "A tabloid version of a fact isn't exactly a lie. But isn't the truth. You know what I mean?" Yeah, we know.